Me again ;) Finally I
had a bit more time to write and documented the last 4 weeks for you. Have fun
getting up to date:
// DAY 491 – 531
// JOB UPDATES... OR HOW YOU JUGGLE YOUR
WORKLIFE
The Café is going good so far. The new
coffee machine is great and compared to the old one a “Ferrari” :).
The coffee itself is better, too, and we already noticed that as more and more
people get their daily caffeine kick from us. I´m slowly getting better at the
latte art and attached a few pictures for you ;) The name is now “Cheeky
brothers” and if you like you could check us out on facebook:
Last time I´ve told
you that I´ll try to get back into tennis a bit more and out of nowhere it just
worked out J Adam brought home a Flyer and I just wrote the
guy an email, asking him if he needs help with coaching or if he would be up
for a hit. I got an answer straight away and I´m now coaching Saturday mornings
for about 2 hours children between the age of 4 and 7 in a school´s sports hall :) It´s hard work as they are really tiny, some
of them only 3,5, and I haven´t done any coaching for a few years either.
Anyway, it´s something different and I see how it goes as “the boss” is a bit unorganised
and I´m not sure what I should think about the whole thing yet. Well, it´s a
great experience to see how tennis is tought in Australia and to do the lessons
in English is quite a challenge for me ;) Here´s the homepage of the “Hot
Shots” Programm in case someone wants to know more:
I also applied within
a few more fashion companies and replied to some adds. One agency wanted to get
in contact with me but due to work we missed each other 2 days in a row and
then the job was gone :( Shit happens! After all it´s nice
that someone is interested and to get some response.
Not much has happened
in Adam´s case. He continues working on his designs and his computer drawing
skills are improving heaps (he will be better than me soon!). He had an
interview as a teacher to coach students in construction aso. for about 20
hours/week on the weekends. The interview went well and they were quite
impressed by him. Now we have to wait if he makes the next round and gets
another talk with the boss. He would be really happy with it as it covers the
bills and he still would have enough time to work during the week or do other
things. Fingers are crossed ;)
// WINTER IN AUSTRALIA... OR WHAT I WOULD
CALL SPRING
The
winter here is wonderful! Dandelions are breaking through the grass and the
cherry trees blossom like crazy! But the Melbournians describe this still as
winter and are going on about how diverse the weather in August could be (from
0 to 30 degrees). Sounds like our April to me ;)
Well,
it´s definitely good to deal with and we try to make the most of the probably
last few months.
// HOW YOU TRAVEL WITH A
RENTED CAR... OR HOW YOU MAKE THE BEST OF THE LAST WEEKENDS WITH A VEHICLE
Mid of
July we went on a drive to Dandenong to watch the sunrise over Melbourne. How
exciting! We got up at 5am and after one hour drive we were sitting in the
woods with the time-lapse camera for 1,5 hours to wait for the sun to come up.
But it was worth it! I attached some pics for you and try to upload the video
as well ;)
Finally
we made it to the “Hot Springs” down at the Mornington Peninsula! What a Spa –
the greatest I have ever been to. With 22 natural, hot pools and a 360 degree
lookout from the top one the landscape is just beautiful! Everything is
integrated into the nature and via wooden stairs and a path you get up the hill
to enjoy the great view :) It´s not very expensive,
too. We went there with the “Early bird” special for only $15 and could stay as
long as we wanted. Here the homepage:
On the
way back we had breakfast in Frankston and found out by accident that there is
great sand, if the tides are low (which means low tide with low swell as well).
Adam was well chuffed and was sure it is the best sand he´s ever worked with!
So we finally found a beach :) Unfortunately it´s very
difficult with the tides – high tide does only give you about 2 hours time but
at least we can watch nature destroying our artworks again.
// HOW YOU STAY POSITIVE...
OR HOW NOT TO GO NUTS
We are still working a
lot on drawings, prints and I even did some sewing the other day :) I
made a long skirt which I still have to optimise… I anyway attached a pic for
you.
Adam works hard on a
commission he got from Wellington. Mark, a fan, commissioned him already 2
years ago for a sculpture in his garden. The good thing is that Mark only needs
the design and he will get it done in New Zealand (it´s about metal figurines).
Therefore he works on a few suggestions for Mark to have another “Burstall” in
his backyard ;)
// LIFE… AND OTHER ADVENTURES
So far we didn´t get
out a lot in Melbourne. First of all because of the money and then as well
because of our age ;) (we are just not that interested anymore). Last weekend
we finally did it and went to a birthday party at the Cider Bar in Fitzroy. It
was funny and it was nice to having a dance and meeting some new people.
Furthermore Bronya and
Tim invited us to an African restaurant (Adam´s birthday present) and we all
have eaten from 2 big plates with our hands. It reminded me a lot of my
childhood ;)
On a Monday we went
ten pin bowling and combined the whole thing with a nice bike tour to one of the
suburbs we haven´t seen yet.
We also continued
playing football in the park once a week and take plastic bottles and a few
balls with us now to practise accuracy… amazing how you can get lost in time
with that :)
After I managed to
destroy my display on my first day at work for the new Café owners – it
happened again (after I got it repaired, of course) a week later – wooohooo :) How
clumsy! Nicely I got a special price the 2nd time and a better
cover, too ;)
In addition we haven´t
had water for 3 days as our kitchen tap was broken. After the plumber didn´t
show up twice, it finally worked the 3rd time. It reminds you again
how good we have it even if the plumber drove me nuts! In Germany the task
would have gone to another plumber… partly it´s incredible with what they get
away with here… that´s sometimes almost toooo laid back for me ;)
// COMING UP... OR WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD
TO
The next weeks we are
looking forward to the MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival) which, like
last year in New Zealand, shows great movies from all over the world. Beside
that we are flying up to Sydney for a long weekend on the 5th of
September to celebrate our 1 year anniversary and that Adam finally sees
Sydney, too :)
We as well bought some
tickets for the New Zealand band “Fat Freddy´s Drop”, beginning of September,
and I finally got a spot in one of the “Laneway learning” courses (check it out…
it´s an awesome idea and only to recommend!)
We had tickets for the
“30 Seconds to Mars” concert in the Rod Laver Arena as well – but unfortunately
they postponed their tour to March 2014 on short notice :( That was a bit of a disappointment for me! Thought I make it into the big arena
after all… well. Maybe we find another good gig here ;)
That´s it again. I
hope the nice summer in Germany continues like the last few weeks (maybe with a
bit of rain during the night)!
Stay tuned and see you
soon ;)
